The alternative Mac email client that arrived in February was until this new update only able to sync to Gmail accounts. However with the Sparrow 1.1 release the email client can now sync with IMAP clients, together with a number of other interesting features.

The Gmail sync has now also been updated within the app to support Gmail’s ‘Priority Inbox’ feature. Other new features within Sparrow include : multitouch gesture support, per-alias signatures, a formatting bar for drafting messages with rich text, contact groups, and Gravatars for automatically displaying photos for message contacts.

Other features include the ability to Sparrow 1.1 also brings support for custom features offered by some services: for example, you can create multiple outbound aliases for each e-mail account.

If you currently own a copy of Sparrow the new update is free and if you are thinking of updating your email client to Sparrow 1.1 it is now available to purchase in the Mac App Store for $10. (requires Mac OS X 10.6 or later)